A Little Thing Called Love
by J. T. Booker
Summary: A series of one shots focusing on the eight types of love. Featuring most of the operators, both old and new. Sort of University/Domestic AU.
1. Philia

Elias and his friends had been drinking for a few hours now, midnight long past, but they were nowhere near stopping. It was the first time in a few weeks they were able to get together like this to sit and relax, adult responsibilities taking up most of their time, and with graduation near they had a lot to worry about in the near future.

"Elias! How do I change the song, it's not bumpin enough!" Dominic had started pregaming even before they got together, his nervous demeanor replaced by a more confident, and even louder, alter ego who had no concept of how to be quiet.

Elias turned to Monika with a small grin, "Let me deal with this dummkopf for second."

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere", she replied with her own grin and took a sip of her _spezial_. He still couldn't tell why she answered like that, but his buzzed mind was preoccupied. Elias walked to the living room from the kitchen, looking for his phone to teach Dominic how change music. As he walked in, Giles came up behind him and caught him in a vicious bear hug, lifting his not so meager frame from the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Elias struggled but couldn't get out of the large man's grip, falling limp instead and relaxing, waiting for an answer.

"You should spend more time with your friends, mon ami, your girlfriend will still be here tomorrow." He stated this in a mocking yet matter of fact tone, which made Elias roll his eyes but suppressed a small grin from spreading.

Elias' friend group was very eclectic, made up of Russians, Americans, French, British, and fellow Germans. The University had a large international presence and plenty of scholarships, meaning folks from all walks of life intermingled, which is how he was fortunate enough to meet this lot.

"She isn't my girlfriend blödmann," Elias replied with another eye roll and a huff, after which his voice gave a fake annoyed inflection, "we were having a discussion that you so rudely interrupted."

"Yeah yeah yeah, now come, sit, Alexander and Lera passed out after their twelfth round of vodka, so now we need someone else to talk to," Giles said, nodding his head to the love seat in the corner of the room, where the two Russians were passed out on each other. It looked adorable, but the snoring broke the moment. Giles lifted Elias over the couch and placed him in between the Brits. Mark, ever quiet even when drinking, gave him a curt nod while Seamus gave him a swift slap on the back.

"What do you want me to talk about?" As Elias finished that sentence, Dominic gave a look to all of their friends, and all of them chanted in unison as if on cue.

"STRASBOURG, STRAUSBORUG, STRAUSBOURG!"

_Oh god not this again, I thought I already told them this._

Monika walked out of the kitchen and leaned against the column, waiting for him to start his story, a playful smirk on her lips. Normally he would have shied away from discussing it in front of her, but the few lagers he had made his confidence shoot up a tad. He drew a deep breath and began, "So I was a young freshman, barely here a month, when I found out they offered trips to Strasbourg for the weekend…"

He continued on, and not even a minute into the story everyone was chuckling, and a few minutes after it had grown into laughter, and by the time he got to the incident with the sweet shop, there were tears in their eyes and they were all gasping to catch their breath between heavy chuckles. Even Monika had joined in with a few giggles.

"God Elias, are we not the luckiest people in the world to know someone like you?" Giles had said so in between breathes, but with a genuine smile behind it. It made Elias' heart happy, and he smiled a goofy grin at everyone, then he spoke aloud.

"A toast! To everyone in this room! Thank you for being here, I wouldn't have any other friends in the world! Here's to graduation and all that lies ahead! Prost!"

"A vontre sante!"

"Prost!"

"Cheers mate!"

No matter what would happen to all of them when they left, one thing was for certain. Elias loved his friends, and they loved him.


	2. Storge

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Papa! Where do I set this down!" He called up the stairs towards his father, who was still sorting through items with his sister and mother./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Towards the back, away from the windows, don't want anything to get them wet in the spring!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Sébastien did as he was told, settling the box on top of a large crate in the corner. He wiped the sweat from his brow and walked back upstairs to his familyem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;". /emIt was not often he got leave available, but when Ottawa granted them some time off, he always headed straight to his family home on the outskirts of Montreal to spend time with them. They had been snowed in today, so instead of going into the city, they stayed at the house. Mama was making some mulled wine and Papa was having them sort out family items such as pictures and old toys. As he made his way up, his middle sister Camille pulled out a photo and showed it to him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Do you remember this Sebe? This was about six years ago I think." It was a photo of them at her secondary school graduation, right before he had left to join the Army. His hair was closely shaved, and he looked thinner than he was now, training having bulked him up. The two of them and their youngest sister were holding each other and smiling, celebrating the occasion and savoring what may have been their last time together for a while. It was one of the few pictures that he had taken with him to Basic, and he still kept it with him while out on exercises and patrols, for good luck. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I do, it was the last time I was smaller than you." He replied with a grin, to which she rolled her eyes. "It was also the last time the three of us had been together in one place," saying it out loud saddened him slightly. Their youngest sister Eliza was doing a lot with her volunteer work in Honduras, calling home occasionally, when she had the time. It still didn't beat having all of them in the same room together./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""That was before you left, right?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yep, I didn't see you guys for another few years after that." He had wanted to make the trip earlier on, but operational tempo and incidents had kept him busy for the longest times. "If I remember, Mama would almost have a heart attack if I didn't make my Sunday call."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Camille sighed at the memory, "You should have heard her, 'em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Mon garcon/em, is he okay? Is he alive?', it was worst on this end, trust me."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He gave a little chuckle, "Don't worry little one, it was just as stressful for me, there were a lot of tough moments." He could barely remember Basic, those 10 weeks flew by so fast and all he could remember was screaming, exercises, and long rucks. Then going to university for his officership, his time in the Mounties, and eventually his transfer to Ottawa. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThey were tough times, but more than worth the effort./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""How did you make it through then? Knowing me, if I had the choice to come home I would."br /He shrugged and gave her his answer that he had always given when asked such a question./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I figured if I was the one who had to suffer through it, you wouldn't have to. It would be easier for me to endure all the pain and hardship than to think you were out there doing the same thing."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, you did it for us?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yes, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"petit/em, you all push me to do better."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His love for his family had helped him endure many trials and obstacles, any time he felt like giving up, he did not want to disappoint his family or put them in danger, so everything he did, he gave 110%. That is what kept him going./span/p 


End file.
